About EE

A bit about us

We run the EE, Orange and T-Mobile brands, delivering over 27 million customers the best network and the best service in the UK.

A little bit more about us

EE is the largest and most advanced digital communications company in Britain, delivering mobile and fixed communications services to consumers, businesses, government and the wholesale market. EE has approximately 13,000 full time employees and 580 retail stores, and serves more than 30 million customers across its mobile, fixed and wholesale businesses.

EE runs the UK's biggest, fastest and most reliable mobile network, pioneering the UK's first superfast 4G mobile service in October 2012. EE's 4G coverage today reaches more than 80% of the UK population. EE’s 2G coverage reaches 99% of the population while 3G reaches 98%. EE's superfast fibre broadband service covers 54% of the UK population, and ADSL broadband service covers 98.7% of the population.

In the last few years, EE has received extensive independent recognition including being ranked the UK's best overall network by RootMetrics®, Best network at the 2014 Mobile News Awards, Fastest Network at the 2013 uSwitch Awards, Best Network at the 2014 Mobile Choice Consumer Awards and What Mobile Awards 2013, Network Innovation at the 2013 Recombu awards and Best Network for Business at the 2013 Mobile Industry awards.

Below you'll find three sections covering Our Vision, Our Brands and Services and Our Team. If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to get in touch by finding us on Linkedin, tweeting us at twitter.com/ee, or dropping us a line at ee.co.uk/contactus.

Delivering the best network

As part of its Network Coverage Manifesto, EE is committing to:

Voice and 4G data coverage across 90% of the UK’s geography

Using Micro Network technology to make phone calls and mobile data available in 1,500 communities that are not currently connected by either reliable mobile or high speed broadband

Mobile voice coverage of more than 90% of the UK’s 245,000 miles of roads by 2017, up from the current coverage of around 82%, focusing on motorways first, then A and B roads, as well as specific 4G expansion to cover the country’s busiest train routes

Deployment of low frequency 800MHz spectrum across the EE rural network to expand the EE’s reach by more than 1,500 square miles – an area bigger than the Lake District and Peak District National Parks combined

A call completion rate of 99.6% as the network carries more than 150 million calls per day

Introduction of 4G Voice – or VoLTE – to enable phone calls over 4G data services to thousands of homes and businesses that have never been covered by EE before

WiFi Calling enabled on a range of iOS, Microsoft Windows and Android devices to enable mobile calls and texts for every home, office and recreational venue with broadband from 2Mbps

Double speed 4G to 90% of the UK population, enabling data speeds up to 60Mbps to smartphones and tablets

4G+ to twenty of the UK’s busiest cities, doubling capacity for every user and enabling 150Mbps speeds to customers with the latest devices

A foundation for technology and research leadership to position EE and the UK as global leaders in the 5G future

Glossary of tech terms

We know some of this network talk can be a little baffling to those not immersed in it every day, so we've written a quick glossary of tech terms to explain the more fiddly bits:

GSM

GSM stands for the Global System for Mobile Communications. These standards provide the blueprints that telecoms operators use to build mobile networks. They allow telecoms equipment manufacturers in one country to build technologies that are compatible with those of another.

2G
2G is the second generation of the GSM standards, launched in the 1990s. It's more efficient than first-generation GSM technology because it uses digital signalling to compress the information being sent over the radio spectrum, which means the capacity of the network can be used more efficiently.

GPRS
GPRS is a standard that describes how data is transferred over the mobile network to and from your phone on 2G networks. It works by chopping data up into small packets. The combination of GPRS with a 2G network is often referred to as 2.5G, as it is seen as a bridge between 2G and 3G networks.

Edge
Edge stands for Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution. It's essentially an evolution of 2G GPRS networks that speeds up data rates and is sometimes referred to as 2.75G. This means they'll be able to access the internet up to three times faster than GPRS.

3G
3G is a step up from 2G and Edge, offering far more capacity than 2G. The rise of mobile internet and mobile TV has largely been possible due to the faster data rates 3G enables. With speeds of around 1-2Mbs, 3G is around ten times faster than GPRS, and with advancements such as HSPA+ technology it’ll be even faster.

HSPA+
HSPA+ is also known as 3.5G. It's a turbo-charged version of a 3G network, delivering approximately 50% faster downloading speeds, as well as up to 100% faster upload speeds for pictures, music and video. HSPA+ 21 has headline speeds of up to 21Mbs. HSPA+ 42 has headline speeds of 42Mbs.

4G LTE
4G delivers significantly faster, more consistent mobile broadband speeds than 3G services. The quality improvements will be immediately noticeable, allowing you to watch a crystal-clear HD movie on your phone, without any jitter or buffering. 4G is a data-only network, so if you want to make a call on a 4G phone, it will automatically drop down to the 3G network.

WiFi
WiFi stands for Wireless Fidelity. It allows you to connect wirelessly at home or at WiFi hotspots such as you find at coffee shops, offices and pubs. It creates a bubble of wireless connectivity at a range of about 30 metres around the wireless modem.

WiFiMax
WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is another type of 4G standard, created to improve the performance of wireless networks. The best way to think of it is as beefed-up WiFi, boasting download speeds of around 30Mbs with a range of around 30 miles.

Backhaul
The backhaul is the part of the network that transfers data between the radio masts and the rest of the web. We’re currently upgrading our backhaul to Gigabit Ethernet; this delivers the highest standard of mobile backhaul.

Spectrum
The radio frequencies are the parts of the radio spectrum used by mobile operators to carry phone data wirelessly. Your handset is tuned in to a specific frequency. Different network standards (2G, 3G, 4G) may use different frequencies: when 4G LTE services launch in the UK, you'll need a handset tuned to the correct frequency.

Dongle
A dongle is a device which allows users to use a 3G network to connect to the internet using a laptop, tablet or PC. It plugs into the device’s USB port and connects to the mobile phone network, acting as a modem. Dongles allow users to connect to the internet without the need to find a WiFi hotspot.